Aaron Smith

Smith’s innovative teaching idea, “Build a Plane,” is designed to not only help students build a flightworthy plane, but to also help students develop specific technological skills they must possess in order to graduate. In partnership with the Eagle's Nest Project, a nonprofit organization that inspires and encourages future aviators, the class will build a flyable, lite sport RV-12 plane. This project affords the teachers the ability to put plane plans and videos on hand-held devices where students can access them at their workstations based upon their assigned activity. The devices then guide students through the process of obtaining a work order and then through the completion of a task that mirrors the curriculum in the aerospace industry. The program will give students a competitive advantage prior to employment by having had experience with the device that streamlines their work and exchanges information within seconds.